Jahrbuch für Europäische Geschichte / European History Yearbook. Band 20, Dress and Cultural Difference in Early Modern Europe

Dress is a key marker of difference. It is closely attached to the body, part of the daily routine, and an unavoidable means of communication. The clothes people wear tell stories about their allegiances and identities but also about their exclusion and stigmatization. They allow for the display of wealth and can mercilessly display poverty and indigence. Clothes also enable people to play with identities and affinities: for instance, individuals can claim higher social status via their clothes. In many ways, dress is thus open to manipulation by the wearer and misinterpretation by the observer. Authorities—whether religious or secular, local or regional—have always aimed at imposing order on this potential muddle. This is particularly true for the early modern era, when the world became ever more complex. In Europe, the composition of societies diversified with the emergence of new social groups and increasing migration and travel. Thanks to intensified long-distance trade and technological developments, new fashionable clothes and accessories entered the market. With the emergence of a consumer culture, it was now the case that not only the extremely wealthy could afford at least the occasional indulgence in luxury items and accessories. Over recent years, research has focused on a variety of areas related to dress and appearance in the context of early-modern political, socio-economic, and cultural transformations both within Europe and related to its entanglement with other parts of the world. Nevertheless, a significant compartmentalization in the research on dress and appearance remains: research is often organized around particular cities and territories, and much research is still framed by modern national boundaries. This special issue looks at dress and its perception in Europe from a transcultural perspective and highlights the many differences that clothing can express. Contents Contents Introduction “The Antipathy between French and Spaniards”: Dress, Gender, and Identity in the Court Society of Early Modern Naples, 1501–1799 “a sutte of black which will always be of use to you”: Expressions of Difference and Similarity in the Clothing Choices of the Scottish Male Elite Travelling in Europe, 1550–1750 “He knows them by their dress”: Dress and Otherness in Early Modern Spain Jewish Travelers in Early Modern Italy: Visible and Invisible Resistance to the Jewish Badge From Noble Dress to Jewish Attire: Jewish Appearances in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Holy Roman Empire The Emergence of a Polish National Dress and Its Perception Shawls and Sable Furs: How to Be a Boyar under the Phanariot Regime (1710–1821) Imperial Fashions: Cashmere Shawls between Istanbul, Paris, and Milan (Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries) Everything in its Right Place? List of Contributors Die Zeitschrift bietet der Erforschung der europäischen Interaktionen und der geistig-sozialen Prozesse übergreifenden Charakters ein Forum, aber auch Studien zur Ausstrahlung Europas nach Außereuropa. Jeder Band des Jahrbuchs ist einem Kernthema gewidmet, ohne dass dies die Aufnahme'sonstiger'Beiträge ausschließt. Die Zeitschrift enthält Forschungsberichte zu ausgewählten Themen. Durch eine Auswahlbibliographie des im zurückliegenden Jahr erschienenen einschlägigen Schrifttums und eine Rubrik, in der sich Europa-Institute und Europa-Projekte des In- und Auslands vorstellen, wird sein informativer Charakter noch unterstrichen. Dress constitutes one of the most obvious and indeed most visual and visible markers of difference. Being very close to the body it becomes part of the daily habitus and an unavoidable means of communication with others. In this volume, we want to follow transcultural perspectives and highlight the multiplicity of differences that are expressed via clothes.